U.S. Government Hacked; Chinese Suspected

Trending News: If The US Government Can Get Hacked, How Safe Are You?

Why Is This Important?

Our high-tech digitally connected world has its downsides too.

Long Story Short

U.S. government agency the Office of Personnel Management is the latest high-profile victim of an online hack, with the cybercriminals making off with some 4 million personal records. With the number and scale of hacks on the rise, is anyone safe from the growing threat?

Long Story

Online hackers have struck again, this time making off with some 4 million records from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), the organization that handles personnel and human resources for the U.S. government. In an official press release the OPM said a "cybersecurity incident" was spotted in April, which is now being made public. Some personally identifiable information may have been included in the leak.

At this time, it is believed that Chinese hackers are to blame for the massive cyberattack. The OPM was also targeted in 2014, again by Chinese hackers.

The OPM says it is now working with experts from Homeland Security and the FBI to assess the extent of the damage as well as any precautions that need to be taken, whether by the agency itself or the staff members affected by the breach. The OPM has confirmed that "additional network security precautions" have been added since the attack and that the individuals involved will be notified and advised accordingly.

These types of security alerts are happening with increasing regularity. Sony is still recovering from the huge hacking attack that it suffered at the end of last year, while just last month the IRS was hit — an estimated 100,000 U.S. citizens were affected by that particular data breach. The OPM itself suffered at the hands of hackers last year, albeit on a more minor scale, and you no doubt remember that even Apple's iCloud isn't safe.

With large corporations and governments getting hit, is there anything members of the general public can do to protect themselves? There's no way of guaranteeing immunity from online hacks, but — as with any other kind of security — there are ways of minimizing the risk, whether you're a multinational company or an individual.

For example, pay close attention to the personal data you're making available to companies (employers, Google, Fitbit), and where it is stored — you might want to limit the number of apps and services connected to your Facebook account, for example. Plus, make regular checks on your accounts (everything from Twitter to credit card statements) to catch suspicious activity as early as possible.

Own The Conversation

Ask The Big Question: If we hear about this many hacks, how many more are actually occurring?

Disrupt Your Feed: If you want to keep something 100% safe, make sure it isn't stored on any computer, either local or remote.

Drop This Fact: According to data from Kaspersky, 38% of web users were subject to some kind of attack during 2014.

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